Breast Cancer Chemotherapy Drugs

 

Chemotherapy is used to treat various cancers including breast cancer. In chemotherapy drugs or chemicals are used which eradicates cancerous cells that are dividing fast. There are different chemotherapy drugs are available which can be used to treat breast cancer. Your doctor will recommend one of these drugs for treating breast cancer. Usually you are recommended combination of three chemotherapy drugs together for treatment. However in some cases, doctor may suggest only one drug which also known as single drug chemotherapy.

Commonly used chemotherapy drugs for treating breast cancer include:

  • Cyclophosphamide
  • Epirubicin
  • 5-Fluorouracil or 5 FU
  • Methotrexate
  • Mitomycin
  • Mitozantrone (mitoxantrone)
  • Doxorubicin (Adriamycin)
  • Docetaxel (Taxotere)
  • Paclitaxel (Taxol)
  • Vinorelbine (Navelbine)
  • Gemcitabine (Gemzar)
  • Capecitabine (Xeloda)
  • Carboplatin (Paraplatin)

Adjuvant chemotherapy (chemotherapy applied after surgery or radiation) is applied to treat breast cancer. Adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer should consist of 4 to 8 cycles of a combination of drugs including an anthracycline (epirubicin or doxorubicin). Chemotherapy drug docetaxel (Taxotere) can be used for women with early stage breast cancer after surgery. Docetaxel can be used in combination with the drugs doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (the TAC regime).

According to studies, combination chemotherapy is more effective than single drug chemotherapy. Other commonly applied combinations of chemotherapy drugs for breast cancer include:

  • CMF (cyclophosphamide or cytoxan, methotrexate and fluorouracil or 5-FU)
  • FEC (epirubicin, cyclophosphamide and fluorouracil or 5-FU)
  • E-CMF (epirubicin which is followed by CMF)
  • AC (doxorubicin (Adriamycin) and cyclophosphamide)
  • MMM (methotrexate, mitozantrone and mitomycin)
  • MM (methotrexate and mitozantrone)
  • CAF or FAC (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin (Adriamycin), and 5-fluorouracil)
  • EC (epirubicin and cyclophosphamide)
  • TAC (docetaxel (Taxotere), doxorubicin (Adriamycin) and cyclophosphamide)
  • AC-T (doxorubicin (Adriamycin) and cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel (Taxol) or docetaxel)
  • A-CMF (doxorubicin (Adriamycin), followed by CMF)
  • TC (docetaxel (Taxotere) and cyclophosphamide)
  • GT (gemcitabine (Gemzar) and paclitaxel (Taxol))

Some other chemotherapy drugs which are used to treat women with breast cancer include carboplatin (Paraplatin), cisplatin, vinorelbine (Navelbine), capecitabine (Xeloda), ixabepilone (Ixempra), and albumin-bound paclitaxel (Abraxane).

Chemotherapy drugs when administered can also damage normal cells along with cancer cells. This causes side effects which are unwanted effects of chemotherapy. Normal body cells including skin, hair, nails and the lining of your digestive system get affected by chemotherapy drugs. Most common side effects associated with chemotherapy drugs are nausea, vomiting, fatigue, hair loss, memory loss, mouth sores, sickness, increased chance of infections, bleeding, loss of appetite and others. Different combinations of chemotherapy drugs have different side effects.